VILLAGE DEFENCE COMMITTEE – POLITY

News: Village Defence Committee Member's Heroic Act: Eliminates Terrorist in Rajouri's Kalakote

 

What's in the news?

       Showing exemplary courage, a member of the Village Defence Committee (VDC) struck a major blow to sinister plot of hiding jihadis by eliminating one of the terrorist within the treacherous Gund Khwas forest belt in Kalakote, Rajouri.

 

Village Defence Committee:

       The VDCs were first formed in the erstwhile Doda district (now Kishtwar, Doda and Ramban districts) in mid 1990s as a force multiplier against militant attacks.

       The then Jammu and Kashmir administration decided to provide residents of remote hilly villages with weapons and give them arms training to defend themselves.

 

Village Defence Guards:

       The VDCs have now been renamed as Village Defence Guards (VDG).

       The new scheme to set up VDGs in vulnerable areas of J&K was approved by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in March last year.

       Like a VDC member, each VDG will be provided a gun and 100 rounds of ammunition.

 

Features:

       Under the new scheme, the persons leading the VDGs will be paid Rs 4,500 per month by the government, while others will get Rs 4,000 each.

       In the VDCs, only the Special Police Officers (SPOs) leading them were provided a remuneration of Rs 1,500 monthly.

       The SPOs, the lowest rank in the J&K Police, used to be retired army, para military or police personnel.

 

Who will have control over the VDGs?

       The VDGs will function under the direction of the SP/SSP of the district concerned.

 

What was the composition of VDCs?

       A minimum of 10-15 ex-servicemen, ex-policemen and able-bodied local youth were enrolled in each VDC on a voluntary basis.

       On an average, at least five of them were provided .303 rifles and 100 rounds each, through the district Superintendent of Police.

       The allotment of weapons could go up depending on the credentials of the volunteers, total population of a village and its security requirements, as assessed by the district magistrate and SSP concerned.

 

Need for VDC and VDG:

       Protect the civilians from the militancy.

       Reduce the fear factor among civilians.

       Make civilians themselves protective.

       Both VDG and VDC is a group of civilians provided guns and ammunition to tackle militants in case of attack until the arrival of security forces.